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Three Ways to Build a Bigger Chest

1. Do rows

Bent over and dumbbell rows build the upper back muscles, keeping them in balance with your pecs. Your chest won’t grow if the body senses imbalance, so do as much work for your back as for your front side.

2. Do Suspended Flyes

Forget lying on the bench. Use gymnastics rings or a suspension trainer like the TRX and perform a flye motion. Moving your body weight through space rather than moving dumbbells activates more pec fibers.

3. Use less of an angle

Most guys do incline or decline presses at too steep an angle, transferring the stress of the exercise to their front delts and, worse, their shoulder joints. Use a shallower angle of 20–25 degrees to work the pecs more safely and directly ---- Did you know: Pectoralis comes from the Latin word pectus, which means chest or heart and soul.

Boost Your Power

Just looking at a barbell loaded with heavy weights can be intimidating. So much so that you might psych yourself out of a set before you even attempt it, dooming yourself to failure. Instead, load the bar with smaller weight plates. Instead of the 45s, use 25s, 10s, and five-pound plates. Sure, it’s less economical than loading the big wheels, but your brain won’t register the weight as being the same. Because it looks lighter it will feel that way when you attempt the lift, giving you the mental edge you need to nail the set or even hit a new max.